Tuesday, October 30, 2012

48th State: Texas (Oct. 30, 2012)


Kayaked Mountain Lake near Grand Prairie.  On Facebook

I sat out at 6:30 am yesterday to kayak my 48th state. There was a full moon in the sky. There was a Great Blue Heron welcoming me at the boat ramp.

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I launched and looked back at the sun rising over my van. What a glorious day.

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I had to paddle under this causeway... and thought the sun shinning on the concrete was really neat.

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Paddling to the far end of this lake... there fellows didn't seem to bothered by me.

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You gotta love it. Those last three birds sit on those post, pruning (right word?) themselves... and the feathers fall on the still water.

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I finally caught a photo of one of these guys, of course I was standing on my head to get the photo.

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I got to the far end of the lake and came to an area that was very Halloweeny... lots of spider webs in the trees.

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The lake itself was pretty mucky but when I got to the headwater... I could see clearly all the way to the bottom, three feet deep in places. The red stuff is not dead stuff but the flowers of those underwater plants. Water looked very clean.

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I love tree fungus.

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Golly, one finally posed for me. Now I have a question... I have seen several pairs of these birds in a couple different southern states... a white one and a gray one? Are they the same species... male and female???? The other one looked like a Great Blue Heron to me... but he kept flying before I could take the shot... he almost laded on this same branch.

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The trip was almost over, and when I get as far as I can go on a paddle, I send a SPOT message back so I can see on a map just exactly were I was. On Sale at my store now $199.95 marked down to $77.99.  You have to pay for annual subscription service on top of that.

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SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger unit (updated version of above item)

Next State: Alaska on Facebook; Alaska on this blog

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Who is Swankie?

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Anywhere, USA, Full-Time USA traveler, United States
In 2006, I was shopping for a wheelchair. By 2007, I had new knees, better health and by 2008 a kayak. In Aug 2013, I kayaked my 49th state, Alaska, at the Holgate Glacier and in May 2014, I kayaked Hawaii, my 50th state, to celebrate my 70th Birthday and the finale to the wonderful adventure of Kayaking America? Next up... Solo Hiking the Arizona Trail, 820 miles? Maybe. Still healing from shoulder and trying to decide.

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